1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to covers, for helmets and more particularly to a method for making a durable, indelibly ornamented helmet cover.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
General utility foam molded helmets were first introduced on the market by Applicant in 1985. These helmets were not only lightweight and stylishly designed, but also offered surprisingly effective head injury protection, especially to bicycle riders. By injection molding the helmet body out of foam, injected at a density of about 5 1/2 pounds per cubic foot, Applicant was able to create a rigid, light-weight bicycle helmet body that would meet and exceed all applicable safety standards for such helmets. These helmets, weighing approximately 6 ounces, were not only found to protect riders involved in high range collisions (i.e., a 50-60 mile per hour collision with a wall), but also those involved in low range collisions (i.e., falls from 4-5 feet from the ground).
Since the foam body of the helmet was not outwardly attractive in appearance, a fabric cap was placed over the foam body to cover the foam, to decorate the helmet in different colors, and to identify the manufacturing source of the product. Although these covers were intended to serve as an ornamental accessory to the helmet, the covers also provided some minor incidental protection for the foam body, such as to prevent and/or hide dents or nicks in the foam.
When a foam helmet is involved in an accident or collision, the foam body will occasionally break into two or more pieces upon impact. Although the fabric covers could not prevent the helmet from breaking into pieces, if the type of impact was one which would cause such a result, the cover might occasionally help to retain the broken pieces of the helmet on the wearer's head after impact. However, since the covers were not designed for such a purpose and have not proven to be effective in this regard, different means have been sought to either improve the rigidity of the helmet structure during most impacts or to better hold the resulting broken pieces together. An additional problem with the fabric covers is that the fabric material is prone to snagging on branches and the like when the fabric covered helmet is used by mountain bicycle riders.
One effort to improve the body's rigidity has involved molding the foam body around an internal webbing or infrastructure, which still allows the helmet to break apart upon impact (a force absorbing action which often prevents major head injury), but still keeps the loose pieces together in order to maintain the basic form of the helmet. A second effort has involved replacing the fabric cap with a durable cover or shell. The resilient nature of the cover further strengthens the helmet body and, if an adhesive is used to affix the cover to the body, keeps the helmet from breaking apart. However, because it is very important to keep the helmet as light as possible, the heavy plastic covers typically used on many hard shell type helmets are undesirable for use on foam helmets.
Another disadvantage of the hard shell type helmet cover is that the hard shell cover is more difficult to decorate in a manner similar to that of the fabric covers, the appearance of which have gained wide popularity. The different techniques that have been used to decorate these and other covers include coloring the plastic compound used to form the cover or painting the outside of the helmet. Multicolored plastic shells are more expensive, do not provide as many design options, and may be easily scratched and soiled, thereby detracting from the attractiveness of the cover. Painted covers can also be easily scratched and soiled through normal use.
In an effort to help prevent the paint of painted covers from being scratched or rubbed off, some covers have been coated with a clear protective coating of paint. However, since this coating, like the paint base, is also adhered to the plastic cover, it is just as likely to be scratched off as the paint and therefore provides little improvement. Another disadvantage of a painted cover is that the cover generally appears to be painted, thereby giving the cover a rather lusterless appearance and causing it to lack some of the stylish nature associated with the popular fabric covers.